Packing crate



Sept. 8, 1953 JOHAN SIMON JOHNSON ATTOR NEYS Sept. 8, 1953 J. s. JOHNSON PACKING CRATE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 12, 1950 INVENTOR. JOHAN SIMON JOHNSON ATTORNEYS J. S. JOHNSON Sept. 8, 1953 PACKING CRATE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 12, 1950 INVENTOR. JOHAN SIMON JOHNSON fi q y/ a ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 8, 1953 PACKING CRATE Johan Simon Johnson, Chicago, 111., assignor to Bigelow-Garvey Lumber 00., Chicago, 111., a. corporation of Illinois Application October 12, 1950, Serial No. 189,804

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a crate or wood container for packing and shipping materials, and, in particular, relates to a collapsible container wherein the sides may be collapsed into a fiat package.

It is a fundamental object of the instant invention to provide a collapsible wood container which is recoverable for repeated use, having the sides hinged together so that it can be collapsed into a compact package.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a top and bottom construction which permit the locking of the top and bottom pieces in place, whereby they function to hold the container in its desired shape and the container conversely serves to hold the top and bottom locked in place.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a wood container which is collapsible and can be readily assembled with its top and bottom without the use of nails.

It is another object of the invention to provide a collapsible wood container having top and bottom capable of being assembled a a unit so that top or bottom may be slipped in place readily.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

The invention, accordingly, comprises a collapsible wood container having a unique structure which is characterized by its being made of four panels held together to form a unit defining the sides of the container and having around the top and bottom structural members or battens forming a ledge for supporting a flat top and bottom inserted therein. The top and bottom elements used also have battens applied thereto which cooperate with the similarly applied battens on the side members, thereby to hold and lock the piece in place. The invention thus is embodied in a container having the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts hereinafter to be described in greater detail.

In the figures which constitute a series of drawings illustrating the invention and its assembly:

Figure 1 is an exploded view showing in perspective the several panels used to form the sides of the container and the top and bottom oriented in appropriate relationship for assembly therewith;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the assembled container showing the top and bottom in place;

Figure 3 is a detailed section showing the relationship of side panels at a corner of the device;

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the device showin the manner of assembling the top with the sides;

Figure 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 2 showing the top in place;

Figure 6 is a section through the device taken along the line @-6 of Figure 2;

Figure '7 is a section taken along the line 1| of Figure 4, and presents substantially the midsection of the device; and

Figure 8 is a section across one corner of the device taken along the line 88 of Figure 3.

Referring now to Figure 1 for a more detailed exposition of the construction of the invention therein, It! represents the box composed of the four side elements, ll, [2, l3 and M, which are formed of a plurality of boards, or they may be of plywood in single sheets, and bear as lateral binding elements a batten or plurality of battens on each, such as [6, ll, [8, IS. The side panels thus formed are hinged together by flexible connectors 20, 2 I, 22, 23, 2-4, 25, which are preferably Wire, which may be of the form shown in United States Patent 2,008,762. These flexible connectors are placed at joints formed by the meeting of battens but are omitted from diagonally opposite corners of the top and bottom. The top and bottom edges of the side panels are reenforced I 1 with battens 25, 21, 28, 29, 30, 3|, 32, 33. Opposite faces of the box are of the same height and in the embodiment of the invention preferred, two of these opposite faces will exceed the other two in height by the width of an inside batten applied to that face and the thickness of the top or bottom piece. In this instance faces H and I3, respectively, have applied to the inner top edges thereof battens 34 and 35 and, in a corresponding manner, the bottom edges thereof have battens 36 and 31 applied thereto. Figure 1 at the corner formed by sides l3--l4 and Figure 3 show the relationship of the length of the side to the placement of the battens.

The top of the box 40 is constructed likewise of a plurality of boards or a single sheet of plywood (as shown in the illustration of the bottom) reenforced witha series of battens 4|, 42 and 43. In the assembly of the top; the outermost batten members in this case 4| and 43 are applied inside these edges a distance equal to the thickness of the battens applied to the inside edges of the sides, in this instance, battens 34 and 35. Also the several battens applied to the top exceed the width thereof by at least the thickness of the several sides of the box.

In this manner the rectangle formed by the of the typical top or bottom corner.

3 outside edges of the battens 4| and 43 and the free edges of the top piece 40 corresponds in size to the rectangle defined by the inside edges of the battens 34 and 35 applied to the sides of the box and the other sides of the box.

For the construction of the bottom element 50 the same considerations apply, that is, it may be made of a plurality-of boards or a single sheet of plywood and has applied. thereto the battens Si, 52 and 53.

To provide the desired flexibility to make the box collapsible, the side panels are fastened together by means of flexible connectors, whichare preferably of wire, and as shown in some detail in Figure 3, where battens l6 and [8 come together to be held in desired relationship. In this view also there is shown in greater detail the structure The inside portion of the bottom corner where battens 2? and 28 come together to hold sides [3 and i l in their proper relationship is shown and also the inside batten 37 appears in its desired spot.

Details of the manner in which the top and bottom fittogether to form the interlocking sections are best seen from an examination of Figures and 6. Thus, in Figure 5 top element is has its battens ii anddE-ofiset from the edges of the top-piece itself by an amount equal to the width of the inside battens 34 and 35. In this fashion battens 34 and 35 serve to keep the top member from being drawn or pushed down from the box, once it has been assembled.

Figure 6 which is a view taken at right angles to that of Figure 5 shows batten 42 in full length and therefromit will be seen that with the other battens similarly overhanging the sides of the box the top fits Within the rectangle formed by the sides and the battens overhanging the sides sufficiently-to prevent the top from falling in.

Reference to Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the manner in which the box is assembled. Briefly,

1 the collapsed container is first opened out so that the foursicles form a square much like that shown in Figure 1. .It is then set over the base or bottom piece 50 substantially as appears in Figure 1 and it .is sprung open at the unconnected corners thereof. That is, side I3 is sprung outwardly slightlyand the corner formed by the meeting of sides i3 and 14 is pulled outwardly so that the inside base of batten 31 will slip over the edge of thebottom 50 and contact the bottom batten 53.

Similar springing of the opposite corners formed by sides H and I2 permits batten 36 to slip over the corresponding end of the bottom 53 to contact the face of batten 5|. With respect to the assembly of the top piece thesame procedure is used but it will be observed that in the preferred embodiment shown, it is the diagonally opposite corners which are left open'so that the springing is done from sides l2l3 and l!-|4 to bring batten 35 into contact with 43 and 34 into contact with M. Upon completion of this operation of assembling the top and bottom around the goods to be packaged, the box can be strapped to form a complete sealed unit by running a steel strap around the top and bottom courses of battens as shown at 3! and 62 in Figure 2. Upon completion of such unit, though the separate parts forming the side are very flexible collapsible elements, a rigid packing crate is formed that serves for shipment of heavy and large amounts of material.

Though instant invention has been described in connection with only a single preferred embodiment, reasonable variation thereof may be accomplished by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed-is:

A shippingcontainer of rectangular configuration comprising side walls flexibly connected together and top and bottom closure sections therefor, each side wall comprising a wooden panel and exterior vertically spaced horizontally extending wooden battens along the top and bottom edges of said side walls andalso their mid-sections, two opposite side walls being longer than the remaining two, battens along the inner edges of said longer side walls, the inwardly facing longitudinal edges of said lastnamed battens lying in the plane of the adjacent end edges of the other two walls of said box, wire loops hingedly connecting said side walls at their mid-sections through the battens, said side walls being further hingedly connected together at two diagonally opposite top corners through-the ends of the top battens and at two diagonally opposite bottom corners through the ends of the bottom battens, the hinged top corners being diagonally positioned with respect to the hinged bottom corners, the remaining top and bottom corners being free-and unconnected, said top and bottom sections each carryin edge battens spaced inwardly fromopposite edges by an amount about equal to the thickness of the battens carried along the top and bottom inner edges of the longer side walls, the ends of the battens of the top and bottom sectionsalso overhanging and contacting the ends of the shorter side walls, whereby upon insertion into place said top andbottom sections are held by resiliency of the sides under the battens along the inner top edges-of said longer side walls.

JOHAN SIMON JOHNSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 972,925 Rockwell Oct. 18, 1910 1,483,174 Greenstree't Feb. 12, 1924 2,008,762 Johnson July 23, 1935 2,110,150 Hile Mar. 8, 1938 2,249,268 Boeye July 15, 1941 2,351,092 Bauer June 13, 1944 2,533,663 Byers Dec. 12, 1950 

